


I'll Stand By You Forever

by chiiibiiichan, tootsuro



Series: HQ Swift Week 2020 [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Bokuto Koutarou Being Bokuto Koutarou, Fluff and Angst, Haikyuu!! Manga Spoilers, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, POV Akaashi Keiji, Post-Time Skip, Pro Volleyball Player Bokuto Koutarou, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Song: Long Live (Taylor Swift), Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:11:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26460163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiiibiiichan/pseuds/chiiibiiichan, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tootsuro/pseuds/tootsuro
Summary: One day, we will be remembered-Akaashi no longer stood at the stage with Bokuto, but that one time they shared being the protagonists, he already felt as if he had conquered the world.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji & Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Series: HQ Swift Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905253
Kudos: 17





	I'll Stand By You Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Links of the music will be left, we encourage you to listen to it while reading if you're comfortable with that.

Chatter and various noises made the Sendai City Gymnasium buzz. The nostalgia that rushed to Akaashi felt heavy on his chest. The scent and the noises were still the same, but the view has changed. Instead of standing on the court, he sat amongst the crowds. Hands clasped together as his eyes roamed on practicing players.

MSBY Jackals VS Schweiden Adlers. 

Half of them were familiar faces, reminding him how good everything was during high school. How blessed he was with friends that's also his family. How blessed he was to climb to the top. How blessed he was to shine beside the brightest [star](https://open.spotify.com/track/4ewAfHYpDTzpW1GKO44CVP?si=hsNbD6yqQ76fK9Ca_OmlLg). 

_**We were the kings and the queens.** _

Akaashi's hands wrung tighter with every skipping beat of his heart, as the crowd grew wild and he heard the names of the people he once faced and stood by, he was at the edge of his seat. 

There. 

Wearing that black jersey with the number tripled from what he used to wear.

#12, Wing Spiker and Outside Hitter.

Bokuto Koutaro. 

_**You held your head like a hero.** _

White and black hair like an owl's, arms above his head as he walked with that beaming smile. Akaashi swore he could even see that excited glint in his golden eyes, a look he could only ever see when they were playing. 

_If he turn his head this way, would he see me?_

The game started and Akaashi only watched him, just as he always did back then. He could swear that if he ever looked away just a minute, just a single minute, Bokuto would be in a mess he had to fix. 

"I literally just got you water," Akaashi sighs, staring at Bokuto on the floor, like a fish trapped in the volleyball net. 

Bokuto chuckled, trying to reach the back of his neck, "I wanted to see if I could jump above the net, you know?" 

"No, I don't know." 

"It's training!" Bokuto defends, flailing around, "To make my jump higher! Just like Shoyou's." 

Akaashi tries to bite back that smile, tries to hide the amusement because he was serious. He's supposed to be stoic, to be the responsible one. But something about Bokuto on the ground looking like merman made his self break into a fit of giggles. 

"Stop laughing," Bokuto pouts, groaning on the floor. 

"You look so ridiculous." 

Akaashi, of course, helped Bokuto out of his predicament. Without sparing the laughs and the teases. Bokuto stared at him with a fond smile reserved for Akaashi's rare break of personality. 

They exited the gym that night with Bokuto's arm over Akaashi's shoulders, and Akaashi's heart in his throat.

A blink and a chorus of cheers and he's back in the stands. The rush of memories with just the sight of _him_ made Akaashi’s heart ache gently. 

The game continued, cheers erupted again as Bokuto nails the spike that the Adlers attempted to block. It was one of his best shots, it was one Akaashi developed with him. 

It was from one of those night when Bokuto had sat in the middle of the court, depressed at how he couldn’t get past blocks and even if he does, it didn’t felt right. 

He was the only one left practicing with Bokuto, it was already late and they needed to go home. 

“Bokuto-san, we have to go home or we’ll be scolded again.” Akaashi broke the silence that prevailed. Bokuto looked small and vulnerable at that moment. He’s seen him like this several times and it never failed to make him feel soft inside. 

“We’ll practice your spikes more tomorrow, okay?” He compromised, making the silver and black-haired boy beam, the curl on the corners of his lips lighting up his whole face. 

“Really?” he asked, Akaashi nods and then stretched a hand out to help him off the cold floor of the gym. Bokuto took it with a sigh, Akaashi’s balance wasn’t the best since he was half tired and so they fell on the floor. 

Instead of groans from pain, he heard laughter echo in the almost empty room. It was Bokuto’s laugh. 

“I’m happy you never get tired of setting for me, ‘Kaashi!” He exclaimed, making him break into a smile as they both lay on the cold ground for more than a moment. The gym door opened and one of the teachers yelled at them for staying there so late. 

After they have cleaned up and got out of school, Bokuto walked him to the station and thanked him for staying out late with him. 

As promised, Akaashi practiced with him until he had mastered his spike. 

“Let’s win with this!” He had declared after crashing in the middle of the court, drenched in sweat. He had only smiled at him and nodded. 

The first set had ended, they switched courts and the announcers had stopped his trip down memory lane. He tried to spot him in the court again, he grinned and talked to his current teammates. The look on his face hasn’t changed. 

The game went on, after a long rally that ended with Bokuto’s hit, the crowd chanted his name and he gave them an appreciative wide smile and two hands waving in the air. 

_**The crowds in stands went wild** _

Akaashi was no longer sitting, he didn't even know how he got there but his hands held the railings with a teary smile and a proud heart. He was always proud, always watching. 

"Akaashi," Bokuto calls, nudging him on the shoulder. Akaashi turned to him tiredly, bones aching and muscles weak.

"Yeah?" 

"Did you see my awesome spike today?" 

Akaashi hums, "Of course, but I think it'd be better if you jump farther from the net. You'd see more and it'll lower the risk of you colliding with the actual net." 

Bokuto grinned, tilting his head to the side, "You think so?" He looked at him like a kid to his idol, starry-eyes and appreciative. 

Nobody looked at Akaashi like that. 

"Yes," he breathes out, ears reddening as he looked away.

"You did good today, too," Bokuto says, "I know I'm not the most reliable or stable, but I watch you. Thanks for always having my back, for staying by my side." 

Was he even breathing? If Akaashi could trade breathing for proper words for that moment, he would have.

"I appreciate you. You're my best friend." 

Akaashi felt so teary then as he was now, he could barely see the blur of the crowds and the players. But one blink, and he was looking right at him. Straight to those golden eyes filled with every dream ever whispered into the night. 

He was beaming like a star, broad shoulders and strong arms steady by his side. Akaashi felt too far away, but it was the closest he'd get now.

Maybe if he told him how he felt before, it wouldn’t be like this. He assumed maybe, even not in the same space, he would look back at where Akaashi was. 

But the words he didn’t say a few years back still hung on his lips until now. 

That day when they became the protagonists of the world. The winning shot he set for Bokuto. They had won nationals. 

The tight hug he was enveloped in by Bokuto, the sweat that drenched him, his whole body shook and felt weak. 

“We’ll conquer the world, next, right ‘Kaashi?” He had asked him, he nodded with a smile. The tears in his eyes formed. 

“I’ll stand by you forever, Bokuto-san.” He whispered this then, he whispered it again right now as he watched Miya Atsumu give Bokuto the ball that made the crowd go wild. 

He stood, thrusting his fist to the air, cheering with the crowd for the win. 

_We will conquer the world. Not side by side like you wanted, but I’ll watch you reach the top._

**_Long live that look on your face._ **

That victorious, every smiling face of yours. Conquer the world, I’ll be here. 

_**Long live the walls we crashed through.**_ _**I had the time of my life, with you.** _

_I will never forget the time that I was the protagonist with you._


End file.
